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Two Sequim men charged with child rape

Following a Clallam County Sheriff's Office investigation into a Sequim-area runaway case, Sequim Police made two arrests for third-degree child rape.

Brandon Meyer, 20, and Robert Keith, 24, both of Sequim, each face the same charge after taking in at least two 14-year-old females who ran away from their Sequim homes.

Sequim Police reports indicate the girls had been living with Meyer and Keith in apartments on the 500 block of South Fifth Avenue and the men had engaged in sexual intercourse with them.

A Clallam County Sheriff's deputy first made contact with Meyer on Jan. 8 at his apartment while investigating a report that a runaway way was staying there. The girl the deputy was looking for was not present, but he did find two other runaway juveniles.

One of the juveniles gave the deputy Keith's phone number as a possible way to find the girl. When contacted, Keith reportedly said he did not know where the girl was, adding that he would call the authorities if he made contact with her.

The next day, Jan. 9, a Sequim Police officer reportedly located a vehicle on the 600 block of West Washington Street occupied by Keith and the missing 14-year-old, who was hiding under a blanket in the back seat.

In the vehicle next to Keith's car was Meyer, with one of the runaway juvenile females the deputy first contacted at Meyer's residence, according to police reports.

Both the men were detained for harboring a runaway.

In a recorded interview, Meyer allegedly admitted to having intercourse multiple times with the female in his car and that they were "kind of engaged," as logged in the police report. Further interviews revealed a sexual relationship between Keith and the juvenile runaway.

The charge of third-degree rape of a child carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

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